A sanitary district board shall be a body politic and
corporate and may sue and be sued in matters relating to the sanitary district.
Notwithstanding any limitation in the petition under G.S. 130A-48, but subject
to the provisions of G.S. 130A-55(17)e, each sanitary district may exercise all
of the powers granted to sanitary districts by this Article. In addition, the
sanitary district board shall have the following powers:

(1) To acquire, construct, maintain and operate sewage
collection, treatment and disposal systems of all types, including septic tank
systems or other on-site collection, treatment or disposal facilities or
systems; water supply systems; water purification or treatment plants and other
utilities necessary for the preservation and promotion of the public health and
sanitary welfare within the district. The utilities shall be constructed,
operated and maintained in accordance with applicable statutes and rules.

(2) To acquire, construct, maintain and operate sewage
collection, treatment and disposal systems of all types, including septic tank
systems or other on-site collection or disposal facilities or systems, water
supply systems; water purification or treatment plants and other utilities,
within and outside the corporate limits of the district, as may be necessary
for the preservation of the public health and sanitary welfare outside the
corporate limits of the district, within reasonable limitation. The utilities
shall be constructed, operated and maintained in accordance with applicable
statutes and rules.

a. The authority granted to a sanitary district by the
provisions of this subsection is supplemental to the authority granted to a
sanitary district by other provisions of law.

b. Actions taken by a sanitary district to acquire,
construct, maintain and operate sewage collection, treatment and disposal
systems of all types; water supply systems; water purification or treatment
plants and other utilities within and outside the corporate limits to provide
service outside the corporate limits are approved and validated.

c. This subsection shall apply only in counties with a
population of 70,000 or greater, as determined by the most recent decennial
federal census.

(3) To levy taxes on property within the district in
order to carry out the powers and duties conferred and imposed on the district
by law, and to pay the principal of and interest on bonds and notes of the
district.

(4) To acquire either by purchase, condemnation or
otherwise and hold real and personal property, easements, rights-of-way and
water rights in the name of the district within or without the corporate limits
of the district, necessary or convenient for the construction or maintenance of
the works of the district.

(5) To employ and compensate engineers, counsel and
other persons as may be necessary to carry out projects.

(6) To negotiate and enter into agreements with the
owners of existing water supplies, sewage systems or other utilities as may be
necessary to carry out the intent of this Part.

(7) To adopt rules necessary for the proper functioning
of the district. However, these rules shall not conflict with rules adopted by
the Commission for Public Health, Environmental Management Commission, or the
local board of health having jurisdiction over the area. Further, such sanitary
district board rules shall be no more restrictive than or conflict with
requirements or ordinances of any county having jurisdiction over the area,
and, if a conflict should arise, the requirements or ordinances of the county
having jurisdiction over the area shall control.

(8) a. To contract
with any person within or outside the corporate limits of the district to
supply raw water without charge to the person in return for an agreement to
allow the district to discharge sewage in the person's previous water supply.
The district may so contract and construct at its expense all improvements
necessary or convenient for the delivery of the water when, in the opinion of
the sanitary district board and the Department, it will be for the best of the
district.

b. To contract with any person within or outside the
corporate limits of the district to supply raw or filtered water and sewer
service to the person where the service is available. For service supplied
outside the corporate limits of the district, the sanitary district board may
fix a different rate from that charged within the corporate limits but shall
not be liable for damages for failure to furnish a sufficient supply of water
and adequate sewer service.

c. To contract with any person within or outside the
corporate limits of the district for the treatment of the district's sewage in
a sewage disposal or treatment plant owned and constructed or to be constructed
by that person.

(9) After adoption of a plan as provided in G.S. 130A-60,
the sanitary district board may, in its discretion, alter or modify the plan if
the Department determines that the alteration or modification does not
constitute a material deviation from the objective of the plan and is in the
public health interest of the district. The alteration or modification must be
approved by the Department. The sanitary district board may appropriate or
reappropriate money of the district for carrying out the altered or modified
plan.

(10) To take action, subject to the approval of the
Department, for the prevention and eradication of diseases transmissible by
vectors by instituting programs for the eradication of the mosquito.

(11) To collect and dispose of garbage, waste and other
refuse by contract or otherwise.

(12) To establish a fire department, or to contract for
firefighting apparatus and personnel for the protection of life and property
within the district.

(13) To provide or contract for rescue service, ambulance
service, rescue squad or other emergency medical services for use in the
district. The sanitary district shall be subject to G.S. 153A-250.

(14) To have privileges and immunities granted to other
governmental units in exercise of the governmental functions.

(15) To use the income of the district, and if necessary,
to levy and collect taxes upon all the taxable property within the district
sufficient to pay the costs of collecting and disposing of garbage, waste and
other refuse, to provide fire protection and rescue services in the district, and
to acquire, construct, maintain, operate, and regulate roads and streets within
the district. Taxes shall be levied and collected at the same time and in the
same manner as taxes for debt service as provided in G.S. 130A-62.

(16) To adopt rules for the promotion and protection of
the public health and for these purposes to possess the following powers:

a. To require the owners of developed property on
which there are situated one or more residential dwelling units or commercial
establishments located within the jurisdiction of the district and within a
reasonable distance of any waterline or sewer collection line owned, leased as
lessee, or operated by the district to connect the property with the waterline,
sewer connection line, or both and fix charges for the connections. The power
granted by this subdivision may be exercised by a district only to the extent
that the service, whether water, sewer, or a combination thereof, to be
provided by the district is not then being provided to the improved property by
any other political subdivision or by a public utility regulated by the North
Carolina Utilities Commission pursuant to Chapter 62 of the General Statutes.
In the case of improved property that would qualify for the issuance of a
building permit for the construction of one or more residential dwelling units
or commercial establishments and where the district has installed water or
sewer lines or a combination thereof directly available to the property, the
district may require payment of a periodic availability charge, not to exceed
the minimum periodic service charge for properties that are connected. In
accordance with G.S. 87-97.1, when developed property is located so as to be
served by a sanitary district water line and the property owner has connected
to that water line, the property owner may continue to use any private water
well located on the property for nonpotable purposes as long as the water well
is not interconnected to the sanitary district water line and the sanitary
district shall not require the owner of any such water well to abandon, cap, or
otherwise compromise the integrity of the water well.

b. To require any person owning, occupying or
controlling improved real property within the district where the water or
sewage systems of the district are not immediately available or it is
impractical with the systems, to install sanitary toilets, septic tanks and
other health equipment or installations in accordance with applicable statutes
and rules.

c. To order a person to abate a public health nuisance
of the district. If the person being ordered to abate the nuisance refuses to
comply with the order, the sanitary district board may institute an action in
the superior court of the county where the public health nuisance exists to
enforce the order.

d. To abolish or regulate and control the use and
occupancy of all pigsties and other animal stockyards or pens within the
district and for an additional distance of 500 feet beyond the outer boundaries
of the district, unless the 500 feet is within the corporate limits of a city
or town.

e. Upon the noncompliance by a person of a rule
adopted by the sanitary district board, the board shall notify the person of
the rule being violated and the facts constituting the violation. The person
shall have a reasonable time to comply with the rule as determined by the local
health director of the person's residence. Upon failure to comply within the
specified time or within a time extended by the sanitary district board, the
person shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

f. The sanitary district board is authorized to
enforce the rules adopted pursuant to this Part by criminal action or civil
action, including injunctive relief.

(17) For the purpose of promoting and protecting the
public health, safety and the general welfare of the State, a sanitary district
board is authorized to establish as zoning units any portions of the sanitary
district not under the control of the United States or this State or any agency
or instrumentality of either, in accordance with the following:

a. No sanitary district board shall designate an area
a zoning area until a petition signed by two-thirds of the qualified voters in
the area, as shown by the registration books used in the last general election,
and with a petition signed by two-thirds of the owners of real property in the
area, as shown by the records in the office of the register of deeds for the
county, is filed with the sanitary district board. The petition must be
accompanied by a map of the proposed zoning area. The board shall hold a public
hearing to obtain comment on the proposed creation of the zoning area. A notice
of public hearing must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in
the county at least two times, and a copy of the notice shall be posted at the
county courthouse and in three other public places in the sanitary district.

b. When a zoning area is established within a sanitary
district, the sanitary district board as to the zoning area shall have all
rights, privileges, powers and duties granted to municipal corporations under
Part 3, Article 19, Chapter 160A of the General Statutes. However, the sanitary
district board shall not be required to appoint any zoning commission or board
of adjustment. If neither a zoning commission nor board of adjustment is
appointed, the sanitary district board shall have all rights.

c. A sanitary district board may enter into an
agreement with any city, town or sanitary district for the establishment of a
joint zoning commission.

d. A sanitary district board is authorized to use the
income of the district and levy and collect taxes upon the taxable property
within the district necessary to carry out and enforce the rules and provisions
of this subsection.

e. This subsection shall apply only to sanitary districts
which adjoin and are contiguous to an incorporated city or town and are located
within three miles or less of the boundaries of two other cities or towns.

(18) To negotiate for and acquire by contract any
distribution system located outside the district when the water for the
distribution system is furnished by the district. If the distribution system is
acquired by a district, the district may continue the operation of the system
even though it remains outside the district.

(19) To accept gifts of real and personal property for
the purpose of operating a nonprofit cemetery; to own, operate and maintain
cemeteries with the donated property; and to establish perpetual care funds for
the cemeteries in the manner provided by G.S. 160A-347.

(20) To dispose of real or personal property belonging to
the district according to the procedures prescribed in Article 12 of Chapter
160A of the General Statutes. For purposes of this subsection, references in
Article 12 of Chapter 160A to the "city," the "council," or
a specific city official refer, respectively, to the sanitary district, the
sanitary district board, and the sanitary district official who most nearly
performs the same duties performed by the specified city official. For purposes
of this subsection, references in G.S. 160A-266(c) to "one or more city
officials" are deemed to refer to one or more sanitary district officials
designated by the sanitary district board.

(21) To acquire, renovate property for or construct a
medical clinic to serve the district, and to maintain real and personal
property for a medical clinic to serve the district.

(22) To make special assessments against benefitted
property within the corporate limits of the sanitary district and within the
area served or to be served by the sanitary district for the purpose of
constructing, reconstructing, extending, or otherwise improving water systems
or sanitary collection, treatment, and sewage disposal systems, in the same
manner that a county may make special assessments under authority of Article 9
of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes, except that the language appearing in
G.S. 153A-185 reading as follows: "A county may not assess property within
a city pursuant to subdivision (1) or (2) of this section unless the governing
board of the city has by resolution approved the project," shall not apply
to assessments levied by sanitary districts. For the purposes of this
paragraph, references in Article 9 of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes, to
the "county," the "board of county commissioners,"
"the board" or a specific county official or employee are deemed to
refer respectively to the sanitary district and to the official or employee of
the sanitary district who performs most nearly the same duties performed by the
specified county official or employee.

Assessment rolls after being
confirmed shall be filed for registration in the office of the Register of
Deeds of the county in which the property being assessed is located, and the
term "county tax collector" wherever used in G.S. 153A-195 and G.S.
153A-196, shall mean the officer designated by the sanitary district to perform
the functions described in said sections of the statute. This subdivision
applies only to sanitary districts with a population of 15,000 or over.

(23) To acquire (by purchase, lease, gift, or otherwise,
but not by condemnation), construct, maintain, operate, and regulate roads and
streets within the sanitary district which are not State-maintained. Not all of
these powers need be exercised.